


party games

by girl412



Category: Septimus Heap - Angie Sage
Genre: Gen, and just heap get-togethers being wild i guess, i dont know what this is lets be real, lots of alcohol & drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 11:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14670039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girl412/pseuds/girl412
Summary: Castle parties really aren't meant for the faint-hearted. Featuring Jenna being a Queen in more ways than one, and one absurdly sober Mandy Marwick.





	party games

**Author's Note:**

> hey whattup it's been 5000000000000 years since i wrote anything and i'm so sorry

“Come on Marwick, just one shot,” Jenna said persuasively, taking one of his hands in hers. For the billionth time, he couldn’t help but think that if he weren’t so gay, he’d probably never be able to function around her. She looked stunning, as always, and ever since her coronation, she’d made it a point to do her eye make-up to a degree that had stronger men than him speechless. It was a power move, and she knew it. Her rich blue winter cloak was slipping a little, showing off her collarbones more than the design intended for but it made her look elegant all the same. The tattoos on her hands made her look like someone to be reckoned with. 

“Jen, babe, you know I don’t drink,” he said, shaking his head. “I like to be in control of my cognitive abilities.” 

“Are you calling me an airhead?” Jenna raised an eyebrow, smirked, and took a large gulp straight from the bottle. Marwick stared.

“No, I think you’re too smart for your own good.” 

Jenna grinned, bumping shoulders against him. “Let’s see how Nicko is doing. At this point he’s probably smashed, and singing that sea shanty again.” 

“Same as when he’s sober, then?”

“Are you always this much of a bastard, or is it just around me?” Jenna was grinning though, and it made Marwick laugh. 

He looked around the room, and was unsurprised to find everyone intoxicated to some degree. Jo-Jo and Marissa were on the floor, leaning against each other, some herbal witchy version of joints in their hands, smoke forming halos around their heads. Simon was letting Lucy put glitter in his hair. The twins were playing some weird drinking game with Sam watching, amused. Nicko and Snorri were, as Jenna predicted, yodelling some odd song in a foreign language that was probably about the ocean. Syrah was sitting on the dining table, and Rose was kissing her. 

None of these scenes bothered Marwick particularly. The room was a mess, but he knew that Jenna would deal with it. Jenna would deal with everything – that was just who she was. 

What did catch his eye was Beetle sitting with Septimus in a corner of the room. Septimus looked distressed and lost, and he had something glowy between his index and middle finger. In fact, it almost looked like – 

“Jen, is Septimus _smoking_?” Marwick couldn’t help sounding incredulous. He remembered summer with Septimus, both of them lying in the castle lawns, the weird pact they’d made to take care of themselves and how Septimus had grinned, condemning smoking, saying something about how it was too much fuss and a nuisance, and he loved his lungs and his health too much for that. 

Jenna stated with similar horror. “Is Beetle _letting him_?” 

The two of them marched over, Jenna walking with a commendable amount of steadiness given how much alcohol she’d consumed and how high her heels were. Marwick, despite being sober, couldn’t compare. He dodged around Simon and Lucy, who were now doing an elaborate dance routine that involved pirouettes, high kicks and lots of flailing.

“Castle parties are such a fucked up idea,” Jenna said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin the way she did when she was thinking.

“You’re the Queen, abolish them,” Marwick suggested, as they made their way to the corner where the Chief Hermetic Scribe and the ExtraOrdinary Wizard were seated, both looking dazed. 

“Beetle?” Jenna said, at the same time as Marwick said, “Septimus?” 

Beetle responded with a hum, meeting Jenna’s eyes for a full five seconds before falling asleep on Septimus. Septimus, on the other hand, looked at Marwick with eyes full of clarity. 

“I’m not smoking, I swear,” he said before Marwick could ask. He dropped the roll he was holding onto the floor and murmured a spell, and as Marwick and Jenna watched, the fire extinguished. He unrolled the charred paper, and Marwick could see that it was a list of Young Army regulations. 

“Oh,” he said.  
Jenna smirked. “Good to know that my little brother’s staying out of mischief, I suppose.”  
Septimus raised an eyebrow. “Jenna, we’re the same age. No, actually, I’m 5 months elder than you, thanks to your great-Uncle. And as far as mischief goes, I’m not the one chugging down bottles of beer to prove a point.” 

Jenna shrugged. “I can smell vodka on your breath, you know.”  
“I’m not that drunk,” Septimus said.  
Marwick sighed. The siblings both turned in one perfectly synchronised movement, looking at him. 

“Go on burning that obsolete propaganda,” Marwick said. “Jenna, you have one boyfriend to attend to.” 

It worked. Jenna looped her arms around the older boy and lead him outside. Beetle, on his part, woke up for two minutes, and then leant against her shoulder and fell asleep standing up. 

“Lightweight,” Septimus said, smiling.  
“I didn’t know you were going to do this,” Marwick said. “I didn’t realise your intentions in coming here were just to get drunk.”  
“No,” Septimus agreed, leaning against Marwick. He was remarkably unsteady for someone who wasn’t slurring their speech yet. “I was trying to gather courage.”

Marwick stared at him like he was surprised at his unintelligence. “Courage for what?” he asked.  
Septimus put a hand on his chin, seeming to consider the question before answering, “This.” And before Marwick could process what was going on, they were kissing, and it was wonderful but also – 

Marwick pulled back, stunned. “I can taste alcohol now, you know.”  
Septimus smiled, and put his head on Marwick’s shoulder. “I’m not surprised. Sorry I didn’t ask, I’m just so out of it.”  
“You need sleep,” Marwick decided, and in a manner reminiscent of Jenna Heap, he gently helped Septimus to his feet and led him outside. 

The walk to wizard tower wasn’t particularly long, but it was long enough. Marwick couldn’t help smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this, and feel free to hmu @ wendronwitch on tumblr if you wanna talk about the Sep Heap universe & kids aaaaaaaaaa


End file.
